Just For Fun

Ever since Hard Candy Sky in the ’90s, I’ve been a blue nail polish girl.

Actually, now I’m a greenish blue/blueish green/blue/green nail polish girl. Those are definitely the color families I wear the most.

Oh, and purple. I’ll sprinkle a purple up in there from time to time. So blues, greens and purples are the shades I wear the most, and to get even more rambly on ya, I hardly ever wear orange nail polish. It doesn’t really do anything for me at all. Neither does beige nor tan.

How about you? What nail polish colors do you wear the most? (BONUS: And what do you hardly ever wear?)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Good question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past gazillion years (more than 10!). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a great start. ?

1. What mascara do you find yourself buying over and over again?

Tarte Light Camera Lashes! It isn’t flashy, and it sure isn’t new, but it’s my Old Faithful. I’ve been using it off and on for a decade.

In the plus column, it isn’t terribly expensive ($23), and I’ve always liked how it adds mad, crazy volume evenly from the base to the tips of my lashes. Also a fan of how it separates like a fine-toothed comb; holds a curl well; doesn’t flake, smudge or smear; and it’s easy to remove!

It’s the total package IMO.

2. If you could go on an all-expenses-paid shopping spree to any store, what store would it be?

Pottery Barn, dawg. I “need” sturdy bedroom furniture that isn’t held together with good intentions and 300 tiny screws, and doesn’t violently wiggle when you open a drawer. ?

3. Do you like your coffee strong or weak?

Weak…ish. But not too weak though. I mean, I don’t want it to taste like coffee water, and it needs to have a wee bit o’ kick.

4. A nail polish line you love?

I’m super obsessed with Sally Hansen Color Therapy at the moment!

5. Are you a stickler for authentic details in Halloween costumes?

Naw, not really. I’m definitely NOT the person who hunts down an exact replica of an 1860’s steampunk birch wood button to get every detail right, although props to you if you’re that person. I applaud your commitment! Personally, though, I aim for one or two major thematic elements to convey the overall idea, and then I fudge the rest. Like one year I dressed up as Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I made a huge paper mache “egg” using a balloon and sprayed it gold. Then I donned a velvet holiday dress that I found in the children’s section at Goodwill and carried the egg around with me all day and night. 🙂 I can’t begin to guess how many strangers on Bart that year said, “Hey, Veruca!” or sang snippets of I Want It Now as I walked by, ha ha ha!

If you need me…

You’ll find me at Michaels, which is where I found the sign up there at the top (they have AMAZING sales). That place is a black hole! Every time I go, I risk disappearing forever. I find a lot of the same types of things I’d otherwise expect at Pier 1. When I was there last Saturday, one of the managers walking around asked if she could help me find anything, and I said, “No, but there’s a good chance that by the end of the day I won’t just be shopping here. I’ll be working here,” and she said, “Well, I AM hiring.”

Raise your paw if you feel me on this!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here are they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to you soon.

1. What mascara do you find yourself buying over and over again?
2. If you could go on an all-expenses-paid shopping spree to any store, what store would it be?
3. Do you like your coffee strong or weak?
4. A nail polish line that you love?
5. Are you a stickler for authentic details in Halloween costumes?

Hey there, sweet pea. Happy Caturday!

I have a theory that if there’s ever anything I’ve felt or believed, chances are, someone else out there has felt or believed it too, soooooo…let’s talk hair.

I know it’s insignificant in the universal scheme of things, but I’ve been feeling kinda low-grade “meh” lately because of various voracious viruses over the past month since Connor started preschool, and I’ve only really started feeling like myself again in the last few days, so yesterday I forced myself to style my hair for the first time in weeks, even though I really just wanted to put it up in a messy bun and forget about it…

But you know what? I feel so much more functional when my hair is done.

Is that weird?

It’s like when I wear pajamas all day long… Whenever I do it, I feel crappy and unmotivated to do anything at all, and apparently it’s the same way for me with hair. When I take the time to style it and do at least a little something to smooth my bangs and curl a few pieces framing my face, I feel better and more capable of heading out into the world.

Anywho…are you like that too?

By the way, the base makeup I’m wearing here is the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away Liquid Concealer and Genius Magic Powder combo I talked about the other day, and I just have to say it again: It’s SO GOOD. Also, the lipstick is MAC Powder Kiss in Sultriness. 🙂

Now onto this week’s reading…

• What you need to know before getting your upper lip or eyebrows waxed
• This hurricane map is bringing out everyone’s 13-year-old sense of humor (and yes, I laughed too!).
• If you’re struggling with growing out your brows, all is not lost!
• In case you were unaware, butt masks and vaginal care products are growing categories in the beauty biz.
• Text messaging may be the newest way beauty brands sell you their products.
• If you’re an Amazon Prime member, each week throughout October, you can get 30% off a different category of beauty products at Whole Foods.
• What do you think of side-split jeans? Love ’em or loathe ’em? I’m gonna pass…
• Speaking of jeans, there are some awesome sales happening at Old Navy right meow, including $15 jeans.
• Tom Ford is expanding the F–king Fabulous fragrance line.
• Remember when Origins sold makeup? They stopped for a while, but now they’re throwing their hat back in the ring with a new lipstick launch.
• How preschools in Iceland teach gender equality is fascinating!
• Um…just in case you have $17 million earmarked for a single pair of shoes…
• Why does your cat chew your hair while you’re sleeping? This feline expert answers your burning kitty behavioral questions.
• Even though Tabs would just end up sleeping in the box these fancy kitty beds came in, I kinda want one of these spaceship-inspired cat beds anyway.

I’d eat these snacks late at night, but I probably wouldn’t make them, LOL!

I just discovered Kim Soane (she’s a makeup artist for Bobbi Brown), and I’m just a wee bit obsessed with her.

I was in the car the other day and heard this song for the first time in years. Yes, I lost my damn mind, LOL!

Have a good day today, OK? See ya later.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Well…sometimes! — but it really depends on where I am and who I’m with. Like, if I’m playing with a colorful palette at home, listening to music and sitting on my bedroom floor, and I do a bright, shimmery blue-green eye, and then step outside to get some fresh air and El Hub or my neighbor sees me, they don’t even bat an eye anymore because they’re so used to seeing me in various states of crazy makeup, so I don’t feel silly at all around the house.

Or if I’m out someplace where I’m surrounded by other people of all ages wearing dramatic makeup, like at a MAC or a Sephora, then I don’t feel out of place, but…if I am someplace where everyone else is wearing low-key neutrals or (GASP!) no eye makeup at all, then yeah, I’ll feel a little silly rollin’ up in a blown-out reddish bronze smoky eye.

It wasn’t always this way, though. When I was in my 30s, I never felt silly because of my makeup, no matter what.

But everything changes, right? My makeup style is evolving, and that’s cool too. But there is still (and always will be) a part of me that loves colorful rainbow eyes.

How about you? Do you ever feel silly/out of touch/old wearing bright or colorful eye makeup?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

A question for you on this lovely morning. 🙂

For many years, it was under-eye concealer for me, until I recently realized that I could actually live my life without it. (Side note: This was extremely liberating.)

Now I feel completely naked if my lashes aren’t curled and I’m not wearing mascara, because the simple act of applying even a single coat of mascara does more for my eyes than really anything else — more than doing my brows, more than concealer, more than eyeliner.

Basically, when I’m wearing mascara and my lashes are curled, I feel like a legit member of the living, ha ha!

So, yeah, that’s my answer, and I’m sticking to it. 😉

How about you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Normally when I get a new book, I devour it as quickly as a can, and sometimes I’ll even stay up half the night reading it, but I’m trying something new with Crazy Rich Asians, which I just started. I’m aiming for three chapters a day… Don’t ask me why I decided on three. It just seemed like a nice number, LOL!

Anyway, I’m hoping this will let me savor the story a little bit more? We’ll see if I’m actually able to stick to it…

When you get a new book, do you typically read it fast and furiously, or do you like to pace yourself and spread it out?

Oh, my gosh, I’ve subscribed to so many… Vogue, Nylon, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, Shape, Popular Photography, Self, The New Yorker, The Economist, Runner’s World… You name it, and at one point in my life I probably had a subscription to it!

Back when I apparently had all the time in the world to read, one of my favorite things to do was tear into a new issue of a magazine on the couch. It still is, but I’ve whittled my way down to three subscriptions now (Allure, Glamour and Entertainment Weekly), and I’m thinking about dropping Glamour…because I can’t remember the last time I read something in there that I could relate to.

Mostly, when I do have blocks of time in which to read now, I’d rather make headway on a book than a magazine, because magazines are like snacks, ya know? And books are like an actual meal.

Are there any magazines you used to love but no longer read anymore? Inquiring minds want to know.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Speaking of meals, I made a massive quantity of this Taco Chili from Iowa Girl Eats (she does gluten-free recipes) a few nights ago and wanted to jooj up the leftovers, so yesterday for lunch I plopped a little of Trader Joe’s Mac and Cheese and some sliced green onions on top…

OH, YEAH. It was SO good! You gotta try that mac and cheese thing with your chili if you haven’t already. It will change your life.

OK, so, Halloween is just around the corner, and as always holidays have a way of sneaking up on me (says the girl who’s shopped for Christmas presents on December 24th many, many times). I’d be overjoyed to be able to cross everything off my Halloween to-do list early, so I’ve been hunting for Halloween costumes for Connor (and Tabs and myself, too!) since last week.

Searching for “toddler girl costumes” on etsy has me thinking about kids costumes… Seriously, when did they get so intense? My first costume, which I wore one year in kindergarten, was Big Bird, and it was a plastic body sheath with a plastic mask that had holes in it for the eyes, nose and mouth (I have vivid memories of barely being able to breathe in it, but you do what you gotta do for free candy, ya know?). It was simple, cheap and effective. And memorable.

Now, though, there are kids costumes that look fit for a Broadway play, like this little girl in her Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffanys getup…

WOW! All that tulle… And the accessories! Wasn’t Holly Golightly a “lady of the night”?? Never mind — that’s a whole ‘nother post.

While I can’t deny that these costumes look super cute, I can’t help but wonder… When did kids costumes get so complicated? Oh! — and pricey? A lot of the cuter ones on etsy are upwards of $80.

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